The present invention relates to an engine control apparatus including such that, when a lock plate is disengaged from a stop switch knob, the stop switch is turned on to allow an engine of a small motorboat etc., to stop or to be in an idling state.
A small motorboat is made to glide over water while taking a sharp turn or jumping so that an operator can enjoy a ride. This frequently causes the operator to fall into water. Due to this reason, it is required to, when the operator falls into water, stop the engine to prevent only the small motorboat from further progressing. Thus, a small motorboat is generally provided with a stop switch for allowing, when the operator falls into water, the engine to stop or to be in an idling state.
Specifically, a stop switch knob for activating the stop switch has an insertable resin-made lock plate that has at the base end a tightened wire. The tip end of the wire is fixed to the operator's wrist or the like. This allows, when the operator falls into water, the lock plate to be disengaged from the stop switch knob to turn on the stop switch, thereby allowing the engine of the small motorboat to stop or to be in an idling state.
As described above, the lock plate is inserted to the stop switch knob to allow the engine to start. This causes a situation where, when another lock plate of a small motorboat or a plate member having a similar shape to the lock plate is inserted, a third party can start the engine with out the owner's permission. In order to prevent such a situation where a boat is stolen, a conventional technique (as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example) has suggested that a transponder incorporating an ID code is embedded in a lock plate and an engine control section is provided in the vicinity of a stop switch.
The above conventional engine control apparatus is structured such that the ID code of the transponder is transmitted via radio transmission to the control section so that the engine is started only when a previously registered regular ID code and the received ID code are the same. When the former is different from the latter, the engine is not started. This can start the small motorboat only when the regular lock plate is inserted to the stop switch knob and thus can prevent the boat from being stolen.
[Patent Reference 1]
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-88789
However, the above conventional engine control apparatus causes a situation where, when a lock plate incorporating a transponder is lost, a regular ID code having the transponder is unknown and thus a lock plate having another transponder and a control section must be changed. In order to prevent such a case, a dealer always controls the regular ID code so that another transponder having the ID code can be prepared if the lock plate is lost, thus making it needless to change the control section. However, such a control by the dealer causes another problem of increased cost.